If you've been keeping up Cal State's and other state universities are seeing an increase in their enrollment to the point that they're turning away qualified students in the thousands. Of course this is all about money. So how are the UC's and other private colleges around the country fairing?
Some like Beloit College in Wisconsin plan on cutting 40 positions because they will have 36 fewer students, stated an article in the New York Times.
In that same article Gail Sweezey, director of admissions at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania said that "one-sided" media coverage gave the perception that private colleges are unaffordable in the face of our dwindling economy and that in fact "a lot of private colleges have more financial aid available this year, but there’s lots of misinformation out there."
Whether or not this is true the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities reported that two-thirds of the 371 private universities it surveyed reported an almost 30 percent drop in regular enrollment applications this year compared to this time in 2007. To read the full report click here.
Here are some more stats from the report:
82 percent indicated that demand for student aid had been affected or significantly affected.
70 percent indicated that student/parent loan availability had been affected or significantly affected.
53 percent reported that institutional debt/cost of debt had been affected or significantly affected.
52 percent indicated that student enrollment had been affected or significantly affected.
Undocumented students rejoiced back in 2001 after Assembly Bill 540 was enacted. The bill allowed undocumented students who attended high school in California to be eligible for in-state tuition.
As of last year it was estimated that there were 114 undocumented students, or AB 540 students, at CSUN. But that number cannot be confirmed as the CSU's don't keep track of AB 540 students.
Now these students are advocating for the California DREAM Act which would extend financial aid to certain undocumented students.
Nationally, of the 65,000 undocumented students that graduate high school, 25,000 are from California. They don’t have driver’s licenses, social security numbers or passports, which means they can't get a legal job or go into the military to pay for their higher education.
Last fall the DREAM Act came up for a vote in the Senate and many students traveled to the Nation's capitol to advocate for themselves, however it was shot down.
Compared to the 60's and 70's undocumented students protests are very mellow, but that's okay said Jorge Garcia the advisor for DREAM's to be Heard, an organization at CSUN that provides support to AB 540 students.
"Back when we were protesting in college it was very different because we grew up in a very different environment and we can't expect our current students to do the same," said Garcia, who is a Chicano Studies professor. "They're protesting in a way that fits the times."
Garcia recalls different methods that they used back in the 60's to shut down the CSU's. One example was when they threw a molotov at the CSU's main computer system. The governor, Regan at the time, shut down all of the CSU's immediately.
President of DREAM's to be Heard, Pedro, agrees that it's very difficult be an aggressive protestor because it not only jeoperdizes them, but their families as well.
"I'm undocumented and so are my family members so if I'm on everybody's radar I can put my family in danger," Pedro said.
While they do participate in protests, they're not going to bomb the CSU's computers system anytime soon said Pedro.
Pedro recently participated in a hunger strike in Downtown Los Angeles to draw President elects attention to the plight of the undocumented community.
"Every little thing we do counts and we're going to keep fighting until we pass the DREAM Act," Pedro said.
There are many people who are opposed to the DREAM Act, but Lizbeth Mateo AB 540 student and CSUN alumni doesn't deal with them. (Listen to Lizbeth's response HERE)
Still they continue to fight for the right to become functioning members of soc
On the eve of the the CSU's announcement that 10,000 qualified students would be shown the door this year CSUN expects to see a decrease of 1,100 in its full-time student enrollment.
CSUN isn't going to see the worst of it though, according to a Daily News article, because under the CSU's plan students living near or around each campus will have first priority. CSUN in fact will end the enrollment period on Nov. 30, when it used to go into winter and at times spring.
CSUN provost Harry Hellenbrand said that for the moment the campus is not considering any tuition hikes, however they may be enacted in the nearby future.
The most impacted campuses, like CSUN, are looking for ways to help students graduate faster even at the expense of their education, which include lack course requirements as well as expelling students with a poor academic standing.
As far as the numbers go this is what the Daily News reported on:
"California's 2008-09 budget grants the Cal State system $215 million less than what officials say it needs to cover current enrollment growth and expenses. Now the CSU system is looking at a midyear cut of $66.3million in addition to a $31.3million one-time cut that was approved by trustees last month."
We can expect more packed classes and a lower level of education due to the increase in students and the decrease in funding.
At least 10,000. That's how many applicants will be denied entry to California State Universities, even if they are eligible. CSU Chancellor Charles Reed got the go ahead from the governing Board of Trustees, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
This is the first time 48 years that they plan on refusing eligible students. The reasoning behind this that CSU's don't have the funds to meet the demands of so many students.
"State legislators enacted $215 million in CSU budget cuts in September, and the chancellor agreed to $31 million in additional concessions last month. The governor has now proposed $66 million in midyear budget cuts, with the prospect of deeper cuts next year."
The CSU community argued that by investing in the state's higher education they are investing in the state of California, but it fell on deaf ears as the budget cuts continued to come.
But since classes are becoming more crowded and students are taking longer to graduate in part because of it the current priority is the 319,000 currently enrolled students.
In order to address California's estimated $11.2 billion deficit Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today called for a special legislative session where he proposed not only a tax increase but cuts in education, health care and welfare payments.
The governor's proposal includes $4.5 billion in cuts and a $4.7 billion raise in taxes.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle this is where students will be hit directly:
$2.5 billion in education funding for K-12 schools and community colleges, the state's largest financial obligation that represents about half of its general fund spending.
$132 million in funding for the University of California and California State University systems.
CNN projections indicate that Democrats will have a major say in the Senate. If they want a filibuster proof Senate, Democrats will need 60 seats. And so far they only have 51.
Having the three-fifths majority will allow them to invoke cloture, a device to end filibuster, according to CNN.
If this does happen then Democrats will no longer have any excuses for not getting anything done because of Republicans.
Barack Obama's victory came faster than I expected it to, the moment in which CNN proclaimed him the winner almost passed me by. However it was expected as he had won key battleground states Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The message of change permeated from the president elect's campaign, but while he is the first African American president the change he promised is still yet to come.
"What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night," Obama said during his victory speech. "This victory alone is not the change we seek — it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you."
Still, as WhalesOnline.co.uk reported, this certainly destroyed the myth that the United States wasn't ready for a black president.
Students from the Black Student Union were ecstatic and were calling loved ones when they heard the news.
“I expect Obama to make things better than what they how they are now, although I don’t expect miracles,” Ebony Conley, BSU member, told the Daily Sundial. “I expect things to be better for all minorities and I expect for everybody to see that we are all equals.”
CSUN is holding a candle light vigil for Esha Momeni on November 12.
There is a table set up in front of the Manzanita Building on the south side of campus. Visit the table above for candy and to speak with a graduate student who is also working on his thesis project for CSUN. The person who is behind this table is working on his documentary on Lebanon.
See you all in front of the Oviatt Library on November 12th!
Once again CSUN Associated Students' electronic voting system failed to produce the results expected and the elections were cancelled. After spending about $14,000 on elections the system still failed. It failed because the campus consultant who built it did a bad job at it and because he left the campus he isn't here to fix it.
Then Student Affairs was left to deal with the problem, which they obviously didn't.
One of the main reasons why the Elections Committee didn't want to go through with the elections was because some of the ballots already had candidates pre-selected. Because some students wouldn't notice that, only voting for their friend the committee felt the votes weren't credible.
This came after the Sundial notified them of the issue.
Now the students who voted must re-cast their vote on Nov. 12 and 13 for their Senators. As it was 1,590 students voted almost about as much as those who voted during both days of the last election. It's highly unlikely whether they will get the same results using paper ballots.
For the first time Associated Student Senate elections were completely electronic and according to officials resulted in no major issues. This election was expected to produce a higer informed voter turnout.
Students could vote from the comfort of their home or go to one of the four polling stations setup by AS for the senator that would be representing their college. Still this didn't keep students from completely disregarding it and probable not voting.
Last semester only 4.6 percent out of the almost 39,000 students enrolled at CSUN voted.
While some students walked without a glance past the polling stations or the calls from volunteers to participate, some decided to stop and vote. A testament to the apathy of students, who could careless about politics or anything that could affect them.
“I didn’t really know who I voted for I just picked one,” Betty Li, freshman business major said. “Next time I should know more and make the right decision.”
Still some students took advantage of the voter guides available at the booths before they voted for the senator that would be representing them, like NaregBostanian.
“I read the guide before I voted, but I would’ve like to have known about it before,” said the freshman undecided major.
Stephanie Vogler, a freshman health science major, while realizing the importance of voting said she would “probably vote” as she walked past the polling station.
As she was reading her voter guide Katherine Opitz, senior broadcast journalism major reflected on the apathy of not only students, but voters in general.
“There’s an imbalance between people not coming out to vote and people voting who are not informed,” Opitz said. “I think a lot of people don’t know the overall issues.”
AS Vice President, Nicole Umali agreed that to a certain extent students on campus are apathetic.
“Students are somewhat apathetic because we tend to live in our bubbles and not know what’s going on at times,” Umali said. “Voters in general will come out if there’s an issue that grabs their attention.”
The creators of FiveThirtyEight tend to vote Democratic, something to keep in mind when looking at their stats. However they claim that their political preferences don't affect their projections. For more on their methodology click here.
Here is their mission statement: Most broadly, to accumulate and analyze polling and political data in way that is informed, accurate and attractive. Most narrowly, to give you the best possible objective assessment of the likely outcome of upcoming elections.
Esha Momeni has been arrested in Tehran while working on her thesis project for Cal. State Northridge on October 15. According to Change For Equality, an Iranian women's movement, Ms. Momeni was arrested for unlawfully passing another vehicle while driving. The subject of her Master's thesis was on the Iranian women's movement.
According to CNN.com, " Momeni is being held in a section of Tehran's notorious Evin Prison that is managed by the Intelligence Ministry, the group said. Evin Prison houses many Iranian dissidents and political prisoners, and it is where four Iranian-Americans were held for several months last year. All have been released."
World Organization Against Torture's Appeal for Immediate Release of Esha Momeni reports, "This appeal also calls for the government of Iran to protect other women's activists and human rights defenders, including from judicial harassment. It notes that Iran has an obligation to do so according to the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other international human rights instruments, all of which Iran has ratified."
CNN.com also reported that "Iranian Officials had promised Ms. Momeni's family that she would be immediately released if news of her arrest were not published, the organization said."
I'm personally sending my prayers to Esha Momeni and her family. I commend her for being extremely brave and wish to meet heronce she returns safely to the United States.
Senator Barack Obama’s campaign announced on Sunday that it broke its own record raising more than $150 million in September.
He's previous record was of $67 million in one month. The Democrat's campaign released the figure Sunday, one day before it must file a detailed report of its monthly finances with the Federal Election Commission.
The previous record for the single biggest monthly fund-raising month was held by Senator John F. Kerry, when he collected $44 million in March 2004 after clinching the Democratic nomination.
John McCain's campaign is expressing outrage over a New York Times story that focuses on Cindy McCain's marriage to the Arizona senator, including her miscarriages, her past addiction to painkillers and her failure in Washington to fit in.
The campaign's outrage comes on the heels of a letter Cindy McCain's attorney, John Dowd, wrote earlier this month to New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller accusing him of biased coverage for not pursuing more information about Obama's personal life.
"It is worth noting that you have not employed your investigative assets looking into Michelle Obama," Dowd wrote in the letter, which the campaign has made public now in response to the latest report by the Times.
"The New York Times has stooped lower than this campaign ever imagined possible in an attempt to discredit a woman whose only apparent sin is being married to the man that would oppose that paper's preferred candidate, Barack Obama, in his quest for the presidency," McCain campaign spokesman Michael Goldfarb wrote in the statement released Saturday.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday the he will vote for Senator Barack Obama on NBC's Meet the Press.
"I think he is a transformational figure, he is a new generation coming onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Sen. Barack Obama," said Colin Powell
He continued by questionining the negative campagin Senator John McCain has launched linking Obama to the 1960s radical Bill Ayers.
"I think that's inappropriate. I understand what politics is about -- I know how you can go after one another, and that's good. But I think this goes too far, and I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for," he said.
Senator McCain said on Fox News that he admires Powell and his announcement, "doesn't come as a surprise."
Powell served as Secretary of State under President Bush from 2001 to 2005.
After weeks of investigation the Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin abused her powers and violated ethics when she fired a state official who refused to fire her state trooper, brother-in-law, according to a legislative investigation.
However Palin said she fired Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan due to a budget dispute. While Monegan maintains that he was fired because he refused to fire Palin's brother-in-law Mike Wooten, after a bombardment of demands from Palin, her husband and staff to fire the trooper.
ApparentlyWooten was involved in a bad divorce and custody battle with Palin's sister.
Palin's husband, Todd, said the reason he made inquiries into Wooten was because the trooper behaved inappropriately by driving under the influence, shooting a moose without a permit, threatening Palin's father and striking his own stepson with a low-level electric Taser.
The report doesn't say that the reasons why Palin wanted him fired were legitimate, it was the means that weren't such as using her husband and staff to conduct a campaign against Monegan.
Palin spent part of the weekend trying clean up the mess that came with the investigation.
After a long week on Capitol Hill the $700 billion bailout plan has been passed by the Senate, House of Representatives and signed by President Bush on Friday.
President Bush said on Friday, "[that] by coming together on this legislation, we have acted boldly to help prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis in communities across our country. We have shown the world that the United States of America will stabilize our financial markets and maintain a leading role in the global economy."
On Friday the House passed the bill on Friday with a vote of 263-171.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday after the vote, "we confront a crisis of historic magnitude that has the ability to do serious injury not simply to our economy, but to the American people: not just to Wall Street, but to everyday Americans on Main Street."
Officials say the final cost of the bailout will be far less than $700 billion because the government will resell the assets that it buys.
The money will be disbursed in parts allowing the U.S. Treasury to buy up billions in bad mortgages debts. Congress able to block the second $350 billion.
This past Tuesday Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed Sen. Gilbert Cedillo's California Dream Act. Literally a dream for the thousand's of undocumented student's throughout the nation who are struggling to receive a higher education without the help from financial aid or loans. It is estimated that about 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school every year.
The DREAM Act would grant those students or AB 540 students the right to apply and receive State University Grants, UC Grants, scholarships, and loan programs which are all funded by non-state monies.
The students who attend a college or university are some of the hardest working students, working three to four jobs to pay for tuition on their own while taking a full load of classes. Some where brought to this country as infants with no say in deciding to immigrate to this country.
They are also some of the brightest who, despite barrier after barrier, continue to excel.
You can hear some of the stories of these AB 540 students while at a press conference in Washington D.C. as they advocated for the DREAM Act last fall to no avail.
In the face of budget cuts to California higher education institutions which leads to increases in tuition and fewer students being admitted to universities, AB 540 students will have an even tougher time gaining access to higher education.
For now AB 540 students will have to wait and plan their next attempt at passing this legislation, however this blow has left many of them disappointed and exhausted.
"The strong vote is helpful. We believe the house has a better chance to pass this bill than the one it considered on Monday," a Republican leadership aide said after Wednesday night's vote. "Having said that, we're going to need more Democrat and Republican votes to pass this bill in the House."
74-25 was the final vote in the Senate on Wednesday night with large bipartisan support.
The modified plan also makes $250 billion immediately available to purchase bank assets, leaving $100 billion at the president's discretion and $350 billion subject to congressional review. Today President Bush urged the house to pass an "improved" bill.
It is a bit more clear today why the $700 billion bailout failed yesterday when the On Monday the House of Representatives failed to pass it.
Both Democrats and Republicans that voted against the bailout defended their stand in a media blitz on Capitol Hill.
Democrat Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas said, " I want Wall Street to pay to bail Wall Street out rather than putting the burden on people who had nothing to do with this."
The House of Representative defeated the plan by a 228-205 vote. 165 Republicans and 95 Democrats opposed the plan.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn, A Republican from Tennessee said, "[we're] talking about $700 billion, a $250 billion blank check at this point...But then, on top of that, when you read the bill, there was an increase in the federal debt limit to $11.3 trillion. Now, that is all taxpayer cost."
Senator McCain suspended his campaign last week to return to Washington and find a solution to this financial crisis.
According to the latest CNN poll Senator Barack Obama leads McCain 49 percent to 43 percent. The same poll last week Senator McCain lead Senator Obama 51 percent to 46 percent.
The Senate will vote on the bailout plan tomorrow.
Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live as Sarah Palin... she is HILARIOUS. Enjoy!
The scary thing about this skit is- it is identical to the original interview with Katie Couric for CBS. This is an actual interview conducted by CBS's Katie Couric with Sarah Palin. Enjoy.
Matt Damon, a brilliant celebrity (with a Harvard education- very hard to find nowadays) talks about what he thinks of Sarah Palin as running mate to Senator John McCain.
The View has become extremely political this past season. Jacques Steinberg reports in the New York Times that, “The McCain interview also appears to have been a factor in boosting the show’s ratings since it returned after Labor Day. So far it is drawing some of its largest audiences since Ms. O’Donnell served as the show’s moderator in the 2006-7 television season. With an estimated 4.6 million viewers, the episode featuring Mr. McCain ranks as the fourth-most-watched in the show’s 12-year history, according to an ABC analysis of Nielsen data."
Below is a short clip of Senator John McCain on The View:
President Clinton was on The View last week:
The ladies all have their own perspectives and give great insight to what they know. Barbara Walters is simply amazing. A brilliant reporter who has a bit of spunk. She told Barack Obama on The View that the ladies all agreed that he was "Very sexy."
This morning on The View, the ladies agreed that nobody really stood out from the debate. Barbara Walters took the objective stand point and noted that Obama was very presidential whereas the ladies believed that McCain was portraying a warrior.
Clearly, nobody came out a winner in the first 2008 Presidential Debate- even the ladies from The View agreed. Since none of the candidates stood out, as a draw- many say that Barack Obama wins by default.
According to the Associated Press, Democrat Barack Obama has an 8-percentage-point lead over Republican John McCain — he has 50 percent to McCain's 42 percent — among registered voters, according to the latest Gallup Poll daily tracking update.”
According to the New York Times, “Mr. McCain’s campaign actually declared victory as early as 10 a.m. Friday, hours before the debate took place and even before he had agreed to take part in it. In what aides said was a mix-up, The Wall Street Journal posted an advertisement on its Web site 12 hours early that showed Mr. McCain proudly looking into the distance. “McCain Wins Debate!” read the text.”
How could a campaign declare victory 8 hours prior to the actual debate? Or far before he even agreed to participate in the debate? Are these papers objective or are they taking sides? People then wonder why the Wall Street Journal is so conservative.
The debate on Friday night was boring and in conclusion; whoever that was voting Republican will still vote Republican and whoever that is voting Democrat will continue to vote Democrat.
Politics. Many people may tell one to never discuss the topic of politics on a first date. That decision may be the worst decision one can make in their entire life. To get to know a person, their political views will help define them.
According to David Carr who is a columnist for the New York Times finds that, “Over all, according to Nielsen, ratings for television news programming of all kinds doubled among young viewers on the big night of primaries. A politics application that is a mash-up of ABC News and Facebook has been downloaded by 1.25 million users. Debates have brought in YouTube and Facebook as co-sponsors, and record numbers of young people with them. More than one college newspaper has suggested that “politics is the new black” on campus.” Politics has become one of the most important issues to discuss and the youngsters are becoming more and more in tuned with what’s going on in our nation.
According to David Carr, “During the week of Feb. 5 voting, CNN’s ratings among viewers aged 18 to 34 were up 232 percent over the same week in 2004. Fox was up 78 percent, and MSNBC was up a whopping 400 percent (although from a much smaller base).” Thus concludes that politics is a very hot topic.
How could one that believes that men and women should not get paid equally be a feminist at the same time? How could a woman who is a “feminist” and a republican be okay with the government deciding whether she could have an abortion or not? It just doesn’t make sense. One could quickly detect that this girl isn’t the brightest crayon in the box. Sarah Palin is definitely a politician who is not working towards feminisism, or women's rights. She is actually going backwards. Take it from Steinem:
According to Gloria Steinem’s article in the Los Angeles Times- Wrong Woman, Wrong Message, “Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing — the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party — are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. We owe this to women — and to many men too — who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the “white-male-only” sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes.”
People may always warn you to not discuss politics because you may have an opposing view and can get into heavy arguments. But hey, arguments are sexy. Smart is also sexy! In conclusion, do your homework before taking a girl or a guy out… always remember… read the news and politics is always in style and is getting sexier by day.
Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are expected to back the $700 billion bailout of the financial institutions, according to the Associated Press.
Although the presidential race is in the home stretch the Senators must first serve their states; Arizona and Illinois respectively.
The Democratic nominee said, " reckless speculation and greed on Wall Street and lax oversight from Washington led to a meltdown of our financial markets, but regardless of how we got here, a failure to deal with the current crisis would have devastating consequences for our economy, costing millions of Americans their jobs and retirement security.”
Meanwhile Republican hopeful said, "this is something that all of us will swallow hard and go forward with. The option of doing nothing is simply not an acceptable option."
The financial bailout proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would give $700 billion to the government allowing them to buy defaulted mortgages and other distressed housing-related assets.
Associated Students allocated $41,000 to elections, a rise from last years $3,100. A huge increase in an effort to increase student voter turn out. They're idea of getting us to vote is to send us voter pamphlets, that's where a lot of the money is going. Those pamphlets are not going to make us vote the reason we don't care enough vote is because they haven't given us a reason to
According to A.S. 1 out of eighteen students voted in the last election.
It's the rare moment when they actually consider taking on a huge issue, like a year ago when they almost backed the DREAM Act, which they didn't. So far all it seems they do is allocate funds to groups and that's the only times when students actually come in to the meetings. Which we should care about since it's our money, $75 per student.
Anyone can allocate money. When they actually change something on campus for the better or make any significant change trust me students will care and take note. So to spend over $40,000 on elections instead of giving that money to student organizations just seems like a waste of money on their part. But hey lets spend the money this year and maybe, just maybe we'll get 2 out of eighteen students to vote.
Or instead of using money to solve the issue of of student participation A.S. looks that themselves and realizes that their actions, or lack thereof, is the reason students just don't care enough to vote.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Welcome to The CSUN Realpolitik a social space to inform, discuss and critique politics. Everything from the election to international politics and those happening down the street. There will also be a focus on the CSUN A.S. student government.
We are students working on this project for our new media class at CSUN. Our main goal is to simplify politics and do our best to be accurate and informative, and hopefully to have a few laughs along the way. Please feel free to give us feedback, suggestions and anything to better serve you, after all this blog is for you! Welcome and blog on!
